Gordon served with Fighter Squadron 121 at Miramar Naval Air Station as a flight instructor in the F4H and took part in the introduction of that aircraft to the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, said spaceref.com.

“He was also flight safety officer, assistant operations officer, and ground training officer for Fighter Squadron 96 at Miramar,” the site said.

Among the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963, he served as backup pilot for Gemini 8. In September 1966, he made his first space flight as pilot of Gemini 11.

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Gordon is survived by six children — Carleen, Richard, Lawrence, Thomas, James and Diane from his first wife, Barbara, who died in 2012, said astronautscholarship.org. He has two stepchildren, Traci and Christopher, from his wife, Linda, who died September 2017. He also had five grandchildren: Madison, Sean, Ryan, Lea and David.